562 Proceedings. 
the market, in ume io emi e mem oach kind is in season, deserve great praise. 
What are now llington and Auckland. A comparison 
of the results at the three places would give data cae which could be deduced a tolerably 
correct idea of the habits and peeuliarities of the common native fishes. 
Thelast of the miscellaneous papers is by Mr. Jenkins, on the scientific form of 
harbours. Although some of the conclusions may not be considered orthodox from 
an engineering point of view, it contains much valuable information on a subject of 
popular interest, consequently the paper is well deserving of a place among our records. 
The five publie lectures given on the alternate fortnights during the session were well 
attended. They are useful adjuncts to our means of disseminating information, and tend 
to popularize the Institute. The lectures were all of a high class, interesting and instruc- 
tive, and elevating in tone and character. The ^A who delivered them have 
earned our best thanks for the trouble they took in the matter 
In looking back on the career of the Otago Institute, * am interested in comparing its 
actual work with what I expected from it. Although I had no immediate share in estab- 
lishing the Institute, I claim to have at an early date suggested its formation. In 
September, 1866, a year before the New Zealand Institute Act was passed, and three years 
before the Otago branch was established, the ** Daily Times" published a letter of mine 
on the subject. This letter defined what I considered should be the objects of such an 
association in a new country, and the means by which they were likely to be attained. 
Briefly the objects were to be :—The investigation of the natural resources of the country 
from an industrial point of view, and their fitness to our everyday wants; the develop- 
ment of manufactures; the” encouragement of the construction of labour-saving 
machinery; and the consideration of engineering works Mec in their application to 
the requirements of the eountry. 
The means suggested for attaining these objeets were what are now followed in the 
papers, discussions and Transactions of the Institute, together with the establishment of 
an Industrial Museum 
Thirteen years have passed away since the above ideas were crudely expressed, but 
they have brought no material change in my opinions. As shown by Sir George Bowen, 
in his opening address to the parent society in Wellington in 1868, I hold that the 
Principal object in the establishment of the New Zealand Institute is to facilitate the 
practical work of colonization 
I do not for one moment deprecate the efforts of those who devote all their energies 
to the investigation of purely scientific subjects; New Zealand, from its geographical 
position at the extreme end of the habitable globe, its peculiarities in Natural History, 
and its newness in almost every sense, will long remain an object of the greatest interest 
to scientific men. What I regret is that practical science should occupy far less of our 
deliberations than its theoretical confrere, whereas their positions should, in my opinion, 
be reversed. I would not, however, like to see the number of scientifie men reduced. 
What is wanted is, that a somewhat more practical bias should be given to their studies— 
a great increase in the number of workers in applied science, and increased enthusiasm 
amongst the few that do exist. If half the energy that is sometimes displayed in con- 
sidering the microscopic distinction between two species of animaleules was only applied 
to the investigation of our mineral resources, the result would be an inealeulable benefit 
to the whole community. 
The present state of things is probably caused by the fact that the prizes in the arena 
of pure science are greater than in the more praetiealfield. A comparatively unimportant 
